 "Photo: Erik Verduzco / The Advocate")
 "Photo: Erik Verduzco / The Advocate")
Thousands of students, parents and educators across the state rallied for equal access to education in a historic Day of Action protest Thursday that they say is just the beginning of a much-needed social movement.
In the Bay Area, rallies were held throughout the day at various schools and city halls, with UC Berkeley, Frank Ogawa Plaza in Oakland and San Francisco’s Civic Center Plaza as the main gathering points.
Demonstrators from all sectors of public education — pre-kindergarten through 12th grade, community colleges, California State University and University of California — assembled throughout the state as early as 7 a.m.
California, a powerful state with one of the largest economies in the world, was once considered the flagship of education, Sen. Leland Yee told The Advocate at San Francisco’s Civic Center Plaza rally on Thursday.
Today, an unprecedented state budget deficit of more than $20 billion has dwindled school funding to a ranking of 48th in the nation, Yee said.
Students are facing rising tuition costs, larger class size maxes, reductions in core support services and even fewer course sections to choose from at a time when demand for classes is higher than ever.
Over the past two years, more than $17 billion was cut from education funding, according to the California Teachers Association, and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s recent proposal for 2010-11 looks to continue the trend.
“We must understand that this is a form of violence on behalf of the administrators and the state,” UC Berkeley student Rafael Cardenas said during a speech in Oakland. “We have to understand who these cuts will affect the most, and we all know that it’s going to affect the communities of color and the working class folks here and all over the Bay Area.”
“Our leadership has failed us: state leaders, school leaders, business leaders, people who are trying to privatize education,” said Marika Goodrich, a Cal student who was arrested Feb. 25 following a dance party in support of the Day of Action.
The party was interrupted by police officials after campus buildings and a Subway business were vandalized.
“They’ve given us no alternative but to fight because they’re not fighting for us,” Goodrich said.
“Fund Brain Cells, Not Jail Cells.” “Terminate the Terminator.” “Education is a Right, Not a Privilege.” Phrases such as these were common on the protesters’ homemade T-shirts, oversized banners and picket signs that called for unity among people.
Attendees shared their thoughts with the audience. Together, they yelled chants. They danced. They sang and rapped. They filled the entire Civic Center square and surrounding streets.
“We want the social, economic and political change that the state has been lacking for a long time now,” San Francisco State student Ricardo Guido said. “We’re standing up to Sacramento and this fight today is a perfect picture of that democracy.”
Taking it to the streets
Following a rally at Cal’s Sather Gate in the morning, more than 1,000 people took over Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley around 12:30 p.m. during a five-mile march to the Frank Ogawa Plaza in Oakland.
“This protest, which includes all sectors of education, shows we’re all connected.” Cal student Ashoka Finley said. ”It was the next step to come together statewide.”
As the crowd navigated the street, participants danced to “Get Up, Stand Up” by Bob Marley and the Cal marching band’s drumbeats.
Those waiting in traffic for the crowd to pass honked their horns in support and residents and business owners watched and joined the students parading down the street.
“This paints a really huge picture, and I’m completely behind it,” Anaka Brown of Sami African Imports said. “We need to hold the state accountable for this educational crisis. And with these students’ mobility and collaborative efforts, I feel like we have a chance.”
After joining hundreds of people at the Frank Ogawa Plaza, including participants from the Peralta Community College District and the Oakland Unified School District, students spoke about how the budget cuts mean more than just money and why young people need support to continue this ongoing protest.
“We have to realize that (the cuts are) going to also segregate our communities. We all know through history of changes around the world that the changes will come in the hands of the youth,” Cardenas said. “As teachers, as parents, as community members, as friends, we must support the youth that are joining this movement, and we must continue to together fight for what is ours.”
Transcending political spectrums
Protesters in the tens of thousands crowded Civic Center Plaza at 5 p.m. in what was touted by speakers as supposedly the largest statewide action in the history of California.
Throughout the evening, students of all ages, faculty, staff and city workers spoke on a main platform about uniting to save education.
“The federal government has money for wars, and they’re bailing out the banks,” said Jabari Shaw, vice president of the Black Student Union at Laney College. “What about our bailout? Bail out education.”
The cutbacks on education and reductions of city employment opportunities do not make any sense, Shaw said, because a more educated population means less crimes of poverty happening on the streets.
“Education is the first step in transforming what’s going on in this world,” he said. “The state spends $60,000 a year for one prisoner. With that kind of money, they could be sending us all to the most elite universities.”
Two of the ways discussed to generate revenue for education was for voters to urge that the two-thirds vote to approve a state bill be overturned to a majority ruling and that large corporations be taxed for oil.
Assembly Bill 656, written by Assembly Majority Leader Alberto Torico (D-Fremont), would mean $2 billion a year for public education if taxes for oil extraction were approved, they said.
Among the crowd, City College of San Francisco student Napier Bulanan said that her plans of transferring to a four-year have been delayed for another year since CCSF cut over 20 percent of its course offerings, including its entire summer session.
At the state college level, it does not get any better.
Guido said that because more than half of the course section offerings for his environmental sciences major at San Francisco State were cut, he was only able to get one class this semester.
The prospect of graduating on time is no longer possible for many students, he said, because so many core classes were cut.
“We’re waiting in limbo, close to graduating but we simply can’t,” Guido said.
At Chabot Elementary School in Oakland, Michelle Gorthy was one of several Parent-Teacher Association members who paid $400 each to fund basic school supplies.
Gorthy, a speech communication professor at San Francisco State, said that although she was financially able to contribute for her two daughters, not all families are able to do so.
“An end to this crisis is not in sight and nowhere to be found right now,” she said. “But we’re fighting together, beyond race and class.”
Bulanan agreed.
“It’s nice being able to see people from all different sides of the political spectrum not fighting each other, but instead, fighting together for a cause.”
Unwarranted alienation
While the demonstrations geared to follow the Satyagraha philosophy of nonviolent resistance, there were some protesters who strayed from the pack.
Oakland Police Department officer and spokesperson Jeff Thomason said that about 150-180 people left the Frank Ogawa Plaza at 5 p.m. and took over Interstate 880 and 980.
They entered the freeway near 11th Street during rush hour and disrupted the flow of traffic for more than an hour, Thomason said, which forced the county sheriff department to detain the suspects.
Of the 149 people who were arrested, 10 were juveniles and cited with release to their legal guardians, he said. The adults were cited and booked into county jails, Thomason said.
One juvenile attempted to flee arrest by jumping from the freeway overpass onto a tree. He missed his target, Thomason said, and was transported to a local hospital with minor injuries.
“Everyone has the freedom of speech, and we want to make sure that everyone has a right to their opinion,” Thomason said. “But when people go up on the freeway in a dangerous manner and try to disrupt everyone’s lives to a standstill, we have to take action.”
Officer Samson Chan, spokesman for the San Francisco Police Department, said that Civic Center Plaza was generally peaceful.
“As with many protests in the past, there were minor problems, but usually, it’s caused by people who are not there to support the protest itself, but rather just to join a crowd,” Chan said. “It never got out of hand.”
Cal student Mark Ryan said that protesters must realize that while it may seem exciting to occupy public spaces, it is not an effective way to engage and invite the public to join the cause.
“It just ends up alienating people,” Ryan said.
Contact Holly Pablo at hpablo.advocate@gmail.com
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